Traction-wheel.



R. M. DOWNIE.

TRACTION WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 1913.

1,099,789, Patented June 9,1914.

INVENTOR ATTORN EY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT M. DOWNIE, OF BEAVER FALLS; PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR '10 KEYSTQNE IDRILLER COMPANY, OF BEAVER FALLS, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRACTION-WHEEL.

traction wheels.

The movement on behalf of good roads,

which has been inaugurated throughout the country, has causedconsiderable trouble with manufacturers of traction engines and in somecases county commissioners backed by legislation on thesubject haveprohibited the use of cleated wheels on improved roads. To get aroundthis difiiculty, I have devised a tract-ion wheel equipped withremovable cable chains, adapted to be conveniently carried, and capablewhen arranged in operative position on the tires of preventing thewheels of a traction engine from slipping and skidding on ice and otherslippery or muddy surfaces, and when removed from the wheels of enablinthe latter to present smooth tread suriaces to avoid lnjuring pavedstreets and. improved roads.

Heretofore chains have been employed on tract-ion wheels, but they haveeither been secured to the tire by means which render their removalexceedingly difficult and inconvenient and attended with the liabilityof the loss of parts when detached, or they have been wrappedcontinuously around the tire of the wheel. When applied. in the lattermanner, while being more convenient to re-- move and replace they passaround the side edges of the tire and are soon cut and de-- stroyed.

The object of the present invention is to provide a traction wheel havina cable chain laced through holes in the ace of the tire at pointsspaced from the side edges thereof, so that the chain will not projectbeyond the said edges of the tire to catch in ruts of the road and worktheir own destruction.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in theconstruction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described,illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and pointed out in the claimshereto appende various changes inthe form, proportion, size and minordetails of construction, within Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filedMay 2?, 1913. Serial No. 770,230.

; it-being understood that- I the scope of the claims, may be resortedto without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of theadvantages of the invention.

.In the drawing :Figure 'l is a erspective view of a traction wheelprovided with a chain, constructed and arranged in ac- 'cordance withthe present invention. Fig.

2'is a plan view of a portion of the tire of a traction wheel,illustrating another arrangement of the chain. Fig. 3 is a similar view,illustrating the arrangement of the chain on the front or steeringwheels. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the clip for securing thefree end of the chain. Fig. 5 is a similar View of a clamp for holdingthe free end of the chain. 7 Like numerals of reference designatecorresponding parts in all the figures of the drawing.

In the accompan ing drawing in which is illustrated the pre erredembodiment of the invention, 1 designates a traction wh'eelof theordinary construction having a tire 2 providedwith transversely alinedsets or pairs of holes 3 to oermit a cable chain t of steel or othersuita le material to be laced through them at points spaced from theside edges of the tire of thewheel, so that the cable chain will notproject laterally be-- yond the tire at the side edges thereof 'and'becut or otherwise injured by the ruts in the surface over which atraction engine may be traveling. The chain, which is designed to belaced tightly through the openings 3, may consist of a single piece or aplurality of pieces, and it may be laced through the openings in anumber of different ways. to

provide exterior engaging portions.

InFig; 1 of the drawing, the chain 4 is' Patented Julian- 1914;

laced. through the openings 3 to form,

straight transverse exterior engaging portions 5, and theconnecting'portions '6, at the inner face of the tire extendlongitudinally thereof from one set or pair of holes to the next set orpair. The chain is provided at. one end with a ring 7 of greaterdiameter than the openings 3 to form a stop for preventing the end ofthe chain from pulling through the said .opening, but, any othersuitable form of stop, or' anchoring means 7 may, of course, beemployed. The chain after being passed tl'irough one of the openings 3of a pair from the interiorof the tire p is extended across ortransversely of the 1-10 rot chain may also be secured by means of a 55ported with the'traction engine without lia- -exterio'rof the tire tothe other' hole of such pair, and is passed through the same from theexterior of the tire to the interior thereof nd is then extended alonthe inner face of the tirein substantial" parallelism with 'the sideedges thereof to the rarresponding hole of thenext. pair. It is thenpassed --t hrough.such hole to theexterior of the large size tohave-thestretches or portions tife'fandjextendedacross the same'to the otherhole of such second set or pair, the

operation being repeated untilt-he entire ofthe tire is provided atspaced oints with ,the exterior engaging portions.

. ile the chain is drawn tightly throughthe holes it is impossible witha chain of perfectlytaut and the wear'ingof the links will; also operateto loosen and slackcn the engaging portionsof the chains. ,{iThe freeend 8 of the chain may be secured at the'inner face of the tire, asillusa-c0tter pin 10, or other suitable fastening sliding on the chain.A relatively light trated .in Fig-f4, bymeans of an approximatelyU-shaped clip 9 straddling at link of the chain between two adjacentlinks and secured on the straddled link by means of device passingthough transversely 'alined perforations 11 of the sides of the clip.The

cotter pin confines'the clip on the link, and the adjacent links preventthe clip' from fasteningdevice may be employed for securing the clipto'the chain, as it is not subjectedto any of the Strain which may heplaced 'on the chain. The free end of the resilient clamp 12, showninFig. -5," and constructed of steel or other suitable material andconsisting of a substantially circular-body portion having a circularopening 13 to receive one side of a link and pro "ided at one side withspaced projecting.

terminals 14: having inner. rounded transverse enlargements 15 partiallyclosing the gagement' with the same.

spacebetween. the projecting terminals of the clamp and adapted toenable the latter to be readily passed over the side of a link inspringingthe clamp into and out of-en- Either the clamp or the clip maybe employed, .and they will enable the chain'to be readily applied toand removed from the wheels of .a traction engine, and when the chain isremoved,

theyar'e adapted to be secured to the same, so that the chain may beconveniently transbility of losing any parts of thetraction device.

In practice the chain will be put on the traction'wheel in sections,that. is tosay,

=1 supposing the chain necessary foran entire wheel should be thirtyfeet, it would be cut into about'three or more pieces, each length orsection of the chain being equipped at one end with'a large link or ring7 and the ings located between tire, a chain laced through the openingsand' other'end with a clip. This will allow the chain to be put on thetire more conveniently, as it will only be necessary to lace some eightor .ten feet of chain through the holes, whereas if the chain should beone piece, it would amount to pulling thirty feet of chain through thefirst or secondhole in the tire, which is a much more-laborious processthan lacing with a shorter chain. Instead, however, of providing a'fixed stop in the form of a large link or.

ring at one end of the chain, a clip or analogous fastening devicemay-be employed at each end of the chain for deta'chably securin thesame to the. tire of the wheel.

in Fig. 2 ofthe drawing, is illustrated a tract-ion wheel tire 16 havingspaced open-' ings 17 arranged in pairs and receiving a course, bedisposed longitudinally of the tire at the inner face thereof inthemanner illustrated in Fig. l'of the drawing.

In F 1g. 30f the drawing is illustrated the tire 20 of one of thesteeringwheels of a traction engine. The tire is provided at intervalswith sets of openings 21 arranged in pairs, the members of each pairbeingclose together The perforations 9.1 are arranged in a centralcircumferential series around the tire 20 and they enable the exteriorportions 22 of a chain to form almost a continuous chain around thetire. The chain of the steering wheel is desi ned to take the place ofthe cutter band, w iich is shrunk on the ordinary steering wheel andwhich will damage a paved street or roadway as much as the cleats of anordinary traction wheel. What is claimed is 1. A traction wheel of theclass described having a smooth tire provided withopent ings locatedbetween e side edges of the tire, and a detachable chain laced throughthe openings and having s aced exterior engaging portions and' inter orconnecting portions, both of'the said portions being located between theside edges of the tire.

2. A trac'tionwheel of the class described having a smooth tire providedwith opent e side edges of the having spaced exterior engaging portionsandinterior connecting portions located, respectively, at the outer andinner faces of the tire and arranged betweenthe side edges thereof, andmeans connected with the'ends of the chain for detachably securing thelatter on the'tire of the wheel, whereby the chain is adapted to beremoved to enable the tire to present a smooth tread surface.

A traction wheel of the class described having a smooth tire providedwith openings located between the side edges of the tire, a detachablechain laced through the openings and having exterior engaging portionsand interior connecting portions located, respectively, at the outer andinner faces of the tire and arranged between the side edges thereof, astop or anchor of greater diameter than the said openings permanentlyapplied to one end of the chain, and a removable device secured to theother end of the chain and engaging the adjacent links thereof.

'4. A traction wheel of the class described having a smooth tireprovided with openings located between the side edges of the tire, a

chain laced through the openings and having exterior engaging portionsand interior connecting portions located, respectively, at

the outer and inner faces of the tire and arranged between the sideedges thereof, and

means for detachably securing the chain to the tire. including aresilient clamp straddling a link of the chain and being of a sizegreater than the diameter of the said opening to prevent the chain frombeing pulled through the same.

5. A traction wheel of the class described having a smooth tire providedwith openings located between the side edges of the tire, a chain lacedthrough the openings and having exterior engaging portions and interiorconnecting portions located, respectively, at-the outer and inner facesof the tire and arranged between the-side edges thereof, and means fordetachably securing the chain to the tire including a resilient clampconsisting of a substantially'circular body having an opening to receiveone of the sides of a link of the chain, said clamp being provided atone side of the body with spaced projecting portions having ribs orenlargements at their inner faces.

6. A traction wheel of the class described having a smooth tire providedat intervals with transversely alined openings arranged in pairs andspaced from the side edges of the tire, and a detachable chain lacedthrough the said openings and having spaced engaging portions located onthe outside of the tire and extending between the said openings, saidchain also having connecting portions arranged at the inner face of thetire hetweeh the said openings, both of said portions being locatedbetween the side edges of the tire.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have heretoaffixed my signa ture in the presence of two witnesses.

J. WALKER WILSON, Wm. B. Coon.

